Inside the Pentagon, Summer Woods sat at a table alongside Marshal John and the remaining high-ranking officials of the United States government. To put it mildly, the situation was a complete mess, and everyone present knew that the country was facing a crisis unlike anything they had experienced before. The recent revelations, arrests, and deaths had left the government with enormous gaps in its leadership, while the expansion of Earth had created additional challenges that could no longer be ignored. Although the military had managed to maintain order, the people responsible for governing the country were struggling to determine who was supposed to take charge.
"Right, how are we going to proceed with reorganising the country?" Summer asked, irritation evident in her voice. "At this rate, it feels as though there is no one left to run the government." She looked around the table, hoping that someone might offer a practical solution to the situation they had found themselves in. Unfortunately, the expressions on the faces of the other officials suggested that she was not the only person who had been struggling to find an answer.
"I do not know, but I am glad we managed to clean house," Marshal John replied, sounding considerably more optimistic about at least one aspect of the crisis. "The military was not hit nearly as hard as the rest of the government, so our most pressing concern is security, and that is something we have already secured." He leaned back in his chair, relieved that the military could maintain order while the civilian authorities worked out how to rebuild their institutions. For the first time in a long while, he believed they could take their time addressing the country's problems instead of constantly reacting to one emergency after another.
John had good reason to feel satisfied with the results of the military's internal cleanup. By removing the most corrupt individuals from its ranks, he had ensured that the armed forces were not dragged into the same scandals that had devastated other parts of the government. The remaining troops trusted their leadership, and the absence of major corruption scandals meant that their morale had remained relatively stable despite the turmoil outside their barracks. As long as the military remained united and followed his orders, John was confident that the country would not descend into complete chaos while the government reorganised itself.
"Yes, and we have your foresight to thank for that," Summer acknowledged, although her expression showed that she was far from satisfied with their overall situation. "However, that does not change the fact that we are in a terrible bind." She took a moment to organise her thoughts before addressing the problem that had been troubling her the most. "First of all, who is supposed to be the president now? I have had people examine the Constitution and the laws governing these kinds of emergencies, but there is no one left in the line of succession who can take over."
The problem was considerably worse than simply having a few vacant positions in the administration. The entire presidential succession chain had been compromised because the officials who were supposed to assume the presidency were either facing impeachment, being dragged before the courts over the charges brought against them, or had already died. Some of those individuals had been directly implicated in the corruption that had recently been exposed, while others had become casualties of the broader upheaval. Whatever the reasons for their absence, the result was the same: the country had no clear constitutional successor who could immediately assume the presidency.
Summer rubbed her forehead as she considered the implications of that situation. The United States had laws intended to preserve continuity in government, but those laws had not been designed for circumstances in which practically the entire succession chain disappeared at once. Even if the surviving officials could agree on an interim arrangement, they would still have to explain why their chosen leader possessed the authority to govern. Without a legally recognised president, every decision made by the administration could become another source of controversy, giving dissatisfied groups an opportunity to challenge the government's legitimacy.
"And if that were not bad enough, we also have to discuss the fact that half of the major families are dead," Summer continued, her irritation returning as she moved to the next problem. She had spent enough time working at the CIA to understand how much influence certain families wielded over American politics, business, and land ownership. Many of those families had maintained extensive networks of contacts and financial interests for generations, allowing them to influence political decisions regardless of which party happened to be in power. Now, with so many of their members dead or otherwise removed from the picture, the structures they had built were beginning to collapse.
The CIA had maintained extensive files on those families, including information about their political connections, economic interests, and the influence they exercised over public institutions. Through those records, Summer knew that the deaths involved were not limited to a few prominent individuals whose absence could easily be addressed by appointing replacements. Entire families had been wiped out, leaving behind businesses, estates, and financial empires without obvious successors. Their influence had not diminished simply because Earth had expanded, since American laws had allowed many established landowners to retain their property even after the world itself had changed.
The situation in the United States was notably different from that of many other countries. In several parts of the world, people had retained ownership of land within cities because those properties could still be identified and measured, while much of the land outside those areas had effectively disappeared from legal records. The expansion of Earth had made it impossible to locate or verify many former properties, leaving governments to struggle with the question of who could legitimately claim them. American landowners, however, had benefited from laws that allowed them to preserve their existing possessions, meaning that many of their claims remained legally recognised even after the expansion.
Consequently, the deaths of those powerful families had created an enormous problem involving ownership and control. Their business empires had not vanished alongside their owners, and the assets they controlled were still valuable enough to attract considerable attention. Factories, financial institutions, land holdings, and other enterprises could now become the subject of disputes between surviving relatives, business partners, creditors, and the government. Some of those assets might eventually be redistributed through the legal system, but others could become the targets of people who saw the current chaos as an opportunity to seize wealth and influence.
"Right, but before we deal with those families and their businesses, we need to elect a new leader," John said, bringing the discussion back to what he considered the most urgent matter. "Once we have a president again, we can start restoring democratic government and work through the rest of these problems." As he spoke, he reached for a menu he had barely paid attention to before, having had little reason to investigate its contents during his previous duties. John was technically the highest-ranking official in the country at that moment, but the prospect of becoming a politician himself held absolutely no appeal for him.
He had spent his life as a soldier, and he intended to remain one rather than become responsible for the endless arguments and compromises associated with civilian politics. The thought of dealing with politicians on a daily basis was enough to make him uncomfortable, particularly after everything that had recently been exposed. He would much rather leave those responsibilities to someone who actually wanted the job and concentrate on keeping the armed forces organised. Fortunately, the menu in front of him appeared to offer a solution to their immediate problem.
"Right here, it says that we can hold elections through the System for all our citizens," John explained, examining the available options. "Although, judging by the price tag, it is certainly not cheap." He stared at the cost for a moment, his expression becoming increasingly pained as he tried to reconcile the convenience of the service with the amount of money it demanded. The System had provided them with a way to conduct a nationwide election despite the extraordinary conditions, but the price was still high enough to make him hesitate.
"That is wonderful!" Summer exclaimed, visibly relieved by the discovery. "I was worried about the problems we would face if we had to organise the election manually." She shuddered at the thought of trying to arrange a nationwide vote when the government was already struggling to maintain contact with parts of its own territory. Ensuring that every eligible citizen had a genuine opportunity to vote would have been an enormous logistical undertaking under ordinary circumstances, let alone in a world where transportation and communications had become increasingly unreliable.
The other officials did not need to imagine the difficulties very hard before they felt the same chill run through them. Organising a nationwide election by conventional means would require an enormous amount of manpower, coordination, and infrastructure that the government simply did not have available at the moment. Even reaching Alaska and Hawaii had become a serious challenge, and those two states were not the only places where communication and transport had been disrupted. Without a reliable method of reaching the population, holding an election that everyone could accept as legitimate would have been extremely difficult.
The problems were particularly obvious when it came to maritime travel. Reaching Alaska and Hawaii by sailing was not easy using the old techniques, especially now that GPS was unavailable and many of the modern navigational systems people had relied upon no longer worked as expected. Fortunately, a number of ship captains still possessed the traditional skills needed to navigate without those technologies. The government had already hired all the experienced captains it could find to keep both states connected to the mainland, leaving little spare capacity for an additional nationwide electoral operation.
"Yes, but the presidential election costs one million silver coins to hold," John said with a pained expression, turning the menu so that the others could see the price. Although the government spent more than that amount every day, he still found it difficult to accept the idea of paying such a substantial sum for a single election. They were already struggling with enormous debts and the expenses associated with rebuilding the country, and every additional expenditure needed to be justified. Nevertheless, compared with the cost and complexity of organising the vote manually, the System's service might actually be the more practical option.
"Good. Then what does everyone think about getting the election underway?" Summer asked, taking advantage of the opportunity before anyone could become distracted by another concern. "Let us give people three days to announce that they are running, then hold the vote seven days later so that the country can get moving again." Her proposal was direct and left little room for unnecessary delays, reflecting her desire to restore a functioning civilian government as quickly as possible. She knew that the timetable was extremely tight, but she also understood that leaving the presidency vacant for too long could create far more serious problems.
The room grew noticeably quieter as the officials considered her suggestion. Everyone present understood that such a rushed election raised serious legal concerns, particularly because the existing laws had not anticipated the complete collapse of the presidential succession chain. There were procedures intended to protect the integrity of elections, and compressing the timetable so dramatically risked violating the spirit, if not the letter, of those rules. Yet none of them could offer a clear alternative that would restore a legitimate government quickly enough to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
The danger of leaving the presidency vacant was not merely theoretical. Without an elected leader, numerous ambitious individuals and groups could begin claiming that the existing government had lost its legitimacy. Some might attempt to establish their own administrations, arguing that they had a better right to rule or that the surviving officials had no authority to make decisions on behalf of the country. Even if the military could defeat such groups by force, there could be thousands of them scattered across the newly expanded territory, and fighting all of them would consume resources that the United States desperately needed elsewhere.
An election, on the other hand, would give the government a stronger argument against anyone attempting to establish a rival authority. A recognised result would not eliminate every disagreement, but it would provide the country with a president who possessed a clearer claim to legitimacy than an official appointed through an improvised arrangement. The officials around the table knew that the proposed timetable was far from ideal, yet they also recognised that doing nothing would leave the door open to even greater instability. After several moments of hesitation, one hand slowly rose in support of Summer's proposal, followed by another and then another.
"Good," Summer said once it became clear that the majority supported moving forward. "John, I want you to initiate the election through the System, and then I would like you to attend the memorial with me." She turned toward the door, already thinking about the next steps that needed to be taken. "It would not look good if the military failed to show up for something like that." With those words, she left the room, confident that the country was finally taking a step toward restoring its civilian leadership.
Although Summer had not originally planned to become president, she was increasingly convinced that she might have to take responsibility herself. She was exhausted by the endless stream of incompetent and corrupt officials who had helped bring the country to its current state. The thought of allowing another group of politicians to repeat the same mistakes was almost unbearable, especially after seeing the damage that their actions had caused. If the country was going to recover, someone would have to make difficult decisions and ensure that the people responsible for its previous failures could not simply return to power.
Summer believed that one of the most important reforms would involve removing money from politics. In her opinion, the close relationship between wealth and political influence had been one of the main reasons the system had gone wrong in the first place. Powerful families and wealthy individuals had been able to protect their interests for too long, allowing private influence to distort public decisions and undermine the institutions meant to serve the country. If she became president, she intended to take hard measures to change that situation, even if doing so meant confronting some of the most influential people who remained.